Est. 2010 – "Dishonest, diversionary and pompous…"

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Thoughts on the Grammys and Capitalism

As I thought about Robert Conquest’s quote last night, a kernel of a thought was forming…Conquest said:

“Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.”

My subconscious chewed on that and the 3 minutes of the Grammys I saw overnight and regurgitated this early this morning.

In my opinion, if there is one industry that depends on capitalism – almost more than any other, it is the entertainment industry. If they don’t turn out a product – whether it be a song, a performance, a script or special effects in a movie the market doesn’t desire to consume, they fail and fade away.

Culture is fickle and this is an industry that can make its own market as well as break it. Rock, pop and hip-hop were invented to meet a market demand…as was whatever we did during the 80’s. Star Wars tapped into Shakespearean themes that have existed for centuries with special effects and changed the entire movie industry.

And in none of these situations did government plan to create Elvis in the 50’s, the Beatles and the Stones in the 60’s, they may well have mandated the creation of disco in the 70’s, or the Pet Shop Boys in the 80’s. Government hand nothing to do with Sugar Hill Gang, NWA or Snoop’s gin and juice or for God’s sake – Kanye (although Kanye may be a CIA plot). They didn’t create Nirvana, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Taylor Swift or Adele.

Everyone of these people owe their success to their individual talents and the fact there was a market for that talent.

This is a free market where people toil their entire lives and never make it, there are “one hit wonders” and there are mega-stars and yet I haven’t heard of a single one of those mega-stars on the Grammy stage last night proposing that they pool their substantial fortunes and split that money up among the aspiring musicians and singers in the studios or those toiling away in dive bars around the country.

I don’t care if Meryl Streep, Katy Perry or Beyonce are gazillionaires. I’m truly happy for them – but it does seem a majority of the performers and entertainment industry people are politically committed to collectivism (i.e. socialism, progressivism, whatever you want to call it), while living their lives via capitalism.

Living that way doesn’t just make them sad victims of cognitive dissonance, it makes them total frauds. Well intentioned frauds perhaps, but frauds nonetheless.